Friday 7pm outdoor BBQ, last 3 seats in Jongno: Tapgol Gongwon

With the outdoor BBQ season in full swing, I headed to Jongno 3-ga station, a hotspot for it. Let me introduce Tapgol Gongwon Jongno 3-ga Branch (탑골공원 종로3가점), a Korean BBQ restaurant in the area.

Location and waitlisting at Tapgol Gongwon Jongno 3-ga

Jongno 3-ga station is famous as an outdoor dining hotspot. Tapgol Gongwon Jongno 3-ga Branch sits right next to Tapgol Park, past the strip of outdoor tables.

Waitlisting is done via a tablet in front of the restaurant. We visited around 7pm on a fiery hot Friday, and luckily there were exactly 3 seats left, so we got seated without waiting. Right after that a line formed, so I'd recommend arriving before 6:30pm at the latest.

The outdoor dining atmosphere at Tapgol Gongwon Jongno 3-ga, a Jongno 3-ga favorite

Tapgol Gongwon Jongno 3-ga Branch combines soft lighting with the hanok (traditional Korean house) atmosphere of Tapgol Park, making the outdoor dining mood even prettier and more enjoyable. Since it's said to be a rising hotspot, I'd highly recommend it for dates or gatherings with friends.

There are roughly 20 outdoor tables, so turnover looked fast.

It was a lively atmosphere, but thanks to soft background music and a cool breeze, it never felt overwhelming.

They set up the side dishes for you at first, and after that you use the self-serve bar. Kimchi varieties, ssamjang, sesame oil sauce, lettuce, garlic — you can help yourself to as much as you want. By the way, the restroom is indoors and it was clean haha!!

The menu

Fitting for a Korean BBQ spot near Jongno 3-ga station, they have pork and duck options like frozen pork belly, flower pork collar, and duck loin, plus beef options like chadolbagi (thinly sliced beef brisket), beef short rib meat, and beef skirt steak. If you're torn on what to order, there's the Tapgol Set, the restaurant's signature combo — recommended if you want to try a variety!

We ordered 2 servings of frozen pork belly (₩18,000 x2), steamed egg (₩5,000), Terra beer (₩6,000), and kimchi fried rice (₩6,000).

The food we ordered

Each table has a grill fitted with a little lantern, which added even more to the outdoor dining mood.

There's a shared basket at the tables with utensils, glasses, and wet wipes. Two tables share one basket! I was a bit thrown off because the guests at the next table had piled all their personal belongings on top of it — turns out they didn't realize it was shared haha. I felt like this should be noted somewhere, like on the menu.

Basic side dishes and a beer

The basic side dishes come out on a tray: kimchi varieties, bean sprouts, sauces, wasabi, garlic, and chili peppers.

You can't have outdoor BBQ without a cold beer~~ With the breeze turning cooler, the beer tasted even better than usual...><

Frozen pork belly

Here's the 2 servings of frozen pork belly!!

Isn't it basically the unwritten rule to grill frozen pork belly together with kimchi, bean sprouts, and bracken fern?!

We sprinkled on some pepper and flipped it so it wouldn't burn.

The meat was thin, so it cooked really quickly!!

No gamey smell, just clean and light flavor — that seems to be the charm of frozen pork belly.

It was delicious with the grilled kimchi and bean sprouts, and just as good wrapped in lettuce with the pork.

So we ended up ordering one more serving. Seems like at Korean BBQ places, you always end up ordering one more serving than the headcount haha.

The extra order of meat seemed bigger and juicier, so it tasted even better. (Maybe just my imagination..?!)

Steamed egg

The steamed egg at Tapgol Gongwon Jongno 3-ga Branch was tasty too. Fluffy and light — the kind of flavor that makes you crave carbs.

Kimchi fried rice

Craving carbs, we ordered kimchi fried rice right away. It looked even more appetizing with a fried egg and seaweed flakes on top.

We stirred the kimchi fried rice, mixing in the seaweed flakes and fried egg together. Ta-da.

Pairing the kimchi fried rice with the meat gave it great flavor, and it was hearty and satisfying to eat.

Wrapping up

To welcome fall, the season for outdoor dining, I visited Jongno 3-ga station, the outdoor BBQ hotspot. As evening fell, the breeze was cool, the meat was delicious, and the atmosphere was great, so I had a wonderful Friday night eating outdoors.

Want to enjoy frozen pork belly with an outdoor dining vibe?! I recommend Tapgol Gongwon Jongno 3-ga Branch, a rising outdoor BBQ favorite in Jongno 3-ga.